Tony LeBlanc

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As the guy who oversees all of Silver Oak and Twomey Cellars’ facilities, Tony has spent a career building “controlled” environments. He joined Silver Oak in 1992 when Ray Duncan and Justin Meyer purchased the Geyserville winery, which had gone bankrupt under its previous owners. As a carpenter Tony had helped to build that winery, and started to work in the cellar during the harvest of 1982. “I had to learn quickly about winemaking that first year,” he says. “But I loved it, and knew that’s what I wanted to do with my career.”

In 1999 when the Duncan family purchased the winery in Calistoga that became the home of Twomey Cellars, Tony was promoted to Chief Operating Officer. By that time he had also assumed responsibility for the Oakville winery. In 2005, when the Duncan’s were looking for a facility in Sonoma County, Tony helped oversee the acquisition of the winery formerly known as Roshambo, and led its renovation into a Pinot Noir facility for Twomey. With four facilities to oversee, Tony was promoted to General Manager and today he leads the winemaking, vineyard, retail and hospitality teams.

In 2006 Tony met the opportunity – and challenge – of a lifetime. Silver Oak’s facility in Oakville had suffered a terrible fire, and rather than try to “patch it up,” the Duncan family decided to build a new winery from the ground up. Tony was the point person on construction of Silver Oak’s new Oakville winery, which received its first grapes in September of 2008. With the Duncan’s purchase of a new 115 acre property in 2012, Tony is again immersed helping Silver Oak design and build a new winery, this time for the Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. “With what we learned constructing the Oakville facility, we know that a new facility will positively affect wine quality.” Tony adds, “we also have the intention to construct the most environmentally respectful wine production facility built anywhere in the world, and we’re excited to take a leadership role in green building for wineries.”